Garment



May 4, 1948. B. o. MATHEWS GARMENT Fil ed March 14, 1947 INVENTOR. fieairzce O )7ZaZz2ews Patented May4, 1948 GARMENT Beatrice 0. Mathews, Riverside, Ill.

Application March 14, 1947, Serial No. 734,751

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in garments.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved garment for young children particularly infants and young children of a development stage within the so-calied training period.

Some garments or suits for children of the age range mentioned are formed of an upper bodice or shirt section and a lower pants or trouser section which are permanently united at the front waist line, and having a drop seat, while other such garments are formed of two separable sections, that is, a shirt section and a trouser section. Usually where a child wearing such a, garment requires attention, as in the changing of its diapers, the drop seat is unbuttoned or unsnapped, if snap fasteners are employed, and the trouser section removed to provide the access required. Replacing the trouser section on the child usually requires turning it over for attaching the drop seat to the bodice which action is generally accepted by the child as an invitation to creep away, if of the creeping age, all to the annoyance of the attendant and protracting the process that appears to be an ordeal to the child.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a garment structure that facilitates such changes by providing a drop front trouser section which, with the child lying on its back, enables the child, from its waist line down, to be removed from the garment to provide the access required in giving the child the needed attention after which the child is, in effect, re-inserted in the trouser section and the drop front re-attached to the upper section of the garment. The improved outer garment enables a change of under garments, as mentioned, to be effected more expeditiously than with any prior outer garments with which I am familiar, and, aside from the time element, less labor actually is involved.

Other objects and advantages of the improvements will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawing wherein.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a two piece garment of a construction that is illustrative of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a broken rear elevation of the garment;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing the garment in an unfastened and open relation.

In the. drawing, the garment illustrated comprises an upper bodice or shirt section I adapted to be opened along the front and retained in closed relation by suitable fastening means. The means shown comprises snap fasteners 01 known form indicated at I l.

The lower portion of the garment, or trouser or pants section, is indicated generally by numeral l2 and, in the particular structure shown, is separable at the waist from the shirt section wise be visible.

l0 although, as will be apparent, the two sections may be permanently connected together from side to side along the rear waist line, if desired without sacrifice of the advantages in effecting change of diapers or other lower undergarments as mentioned above. Snap fasteners, each comprising a pair of fastener elements, indicated by numeral l3 are shown as means for detachably connecting the two garment sections together along the waist line. In the drawing, three such fasteners are shown at the back of the garment and one at the front.

An upper row of fastener elements I4 is shown for cooperation with the fastener elements 13 of the trousers for use if the elevation of the trousers is desirable. Additional like rows of fastener elements may be placed on the shirt, at different elevations which give greater selection in trouser adjustment as the child grows.

As will be observed, the trouser section I2 is readily detachable from the shirt section along the front waist line IS without detachment from the shirt section of any rear portion of the trousers. The upper front portion of the trouser section comprises a drop panel l6 defined by the upper edge or waist line 15 and two vertical edges l! at the outer sides of the trouser section. The edges l'l define side slits [8 which extend down to or preferably slightly lower than the level of the crotch l9 of the trouser section toenable the drop to be folded downwardly to the position indicated in Fig. 3 when the respective fasteners have been released.

In addition to the fastener [3 at the front waist line, there is shown a. pair of fastener elements 20 and 2| on the drop at each side of the center which cooperate with mating elements 22 and 23 respectively on the upper edges of triangular flaps 24 that are secured each along a seam 25 to the vertical edge 26 of the rear panel 21 of the trouser section. The front panel l6 and the rear panel 21, as just described, constitute a bifurcated member adapted to cover the lower torso of a wearer, and those two panels cooperate with the depending leg portions to form the crotch ,l 9. Should it be desirable to afford greater iooseness in the trouser, section about the hips 0f the wearer, the fastener elements 20 can be engaged with elements 23 of the flaps. Normally, however, the flaps 24 underlie the vertical portions of thefront panel it along the side slits It to cover the under garments that might other- A fastener element 28 on each vertical edge of the front panel l6 cooperates with mating elements 29 on the edges 26 of the rear portion 21 for closing the slits normally.

By reason of the drop-front portion of the trouser section, the garment provides ready access to the child wearing the garment whenever a diaper or like change is to be made. As will be 3 seen. the child can be placed on its back, and the front panel released by opening the respective fasteners, and the panel then can be folded downwardly about a line extending transversely at approximately crotch height as shown in Fig.

3. The child's legs can be flexed at the knees and withdrawn from the trouser legs without hindrance by the shirt section. The trouser section will then be beneath the child. Upon completing the task for the performance of which the child was removed from the trouser section as described above, the child can be re-inserted in the trousers, while it still is lying on its back, by merely replacing its legs and raising the drop and re-engaging the respective fastener elements.

The garment illustrated in the drawing is of a type in which the upper edge of the front panel or drop is normally is disposed in the proximity of the waist line but the invention may be embodied in other styles of garments as well. as for example, in those where the front of the trouser section extends upwardly to provide a bib. While snap fasteners have been shown as the fastening means, other known fasteners may be employed, such as buttons and button holes, and at the side slits along the legs which with the upper edge of the front define the front panel or drop, slide fasteners may be used, if desired, although in that instance the feature described pertaining to waist-line adjustment might be sacrificed.

Various other changes in detail may be employed without departure from the principle of the invention defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A childs garment comprising an upper shoulder suspending member and a lower bifur cated member attached thereto, said bifurcated member including connected front and rear torso covering panels having depending leg portions diverging therefrom and forming therewith 1 rel- 80 Number atively wide crotch and body fullness in the region of the crotch, the side edges of the respective panels being separable for the distance from the upper edge of the bifurcated member to substantially'the level of the crotch, and the upper end of one of said panels being of greater width than the upper end of the other of said panels and extending to lapping relation therewith substantially at the opposite sides of the garment and providing closure flaps in lapping relation to cor responding side edges of the other of said panels, whereby the front panel may be swung downwardly about a line extending from side to side of the garment and substantially through the crotch to facilitate the changing of diapers, etc.

2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the rear panel is increasingly wider than the front panel upwardly from their juncture with the leg portions providing closure flaps and detachable fastener members connecting the front and rear panels at their side and upper edges.

BEATRICE O. MATHEWS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Jacobs Apr. 14, 1885 Pine Apr. 27, 1915 Emery July 25, 1916 Jones Mar. 18, 1919 Burgdorfer Mar. 24, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Apr, 4, 1931 Great Britain Oct. 6, 1938 Number 

